The Fox's Melody
by Emerald Foxlily
Summary: When all signs of communication with a regional academy vanish, Headmaster Ben Long sends Team VLPN (pronounced Vulpine), a band of Mistral misfits, to investigate the reason for the lapse in communication. Along the way, they will discover numerous horrifying facts, and uncover a conspiracy that may haunt them for the rest of their lives. Set two years after the defeat of Cinder.


**((A/N It's been around a year since I wrote just about any story, fanfic or original, so please forgive me if the quality leaves anything to be desired. Please leave a review so that I can know how to improve my writing.))**

 **Disclaimer: I obviously own nothing.**

* * *

The 41st Vytal Festival was guaranteed to be a success. The sun hovered high in the sky, as though in on the celebration, and festivity filled the air.

"Ah, smell that air!"

Penelope stuck her nose high in the air and took a whiff of the plethora of scents as her and her team walked past numerous food stalls. "It smells like yeast... _and sunshine_!" she exclaimed, before adding in admittance. "But mostly yeast."

"Uh... how can you smell sunshine?" Nero asked with a confused expression on her face, hands suspiciously stuffed in her pockets. Normally, such a common gesture would not arouse suspicion, but the black haired girl was infamous for "stumbling upon" other people's possessions, by accident she swore. Vulpes reminded herself to keep an eye on her team mate to make sure the four of them didn't end up in prison on charges of larceny.

The white haired girl next to her rolled her eyes in exasperation. "It's almost as if you haven't spent the last four years on the same team as her." Luna replied, the last four years teaching her to avoid asking the bright haired girl about her paradoxical statements. It would only lead to more headache. "The 41st Vytal Festival, huh." her hands were in their pockets, but luckily, she lacked the same vice as Nero. "Always wanted to be here. My sister won the 35th."she was interrupted from her melancholy by a squeal.

" _Ooooh_ , pretzels!"Penelope raced over to the food stall, with a fistful of lien crushed in her hand. "Gimme, gimme, gimme!"

The old grey haired man in charge of the stall counted through the money she handed him. "That will be..."

"SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!" the stall keeper apprehensively handed her two very large pretzels, which she promptly dug into. "Mmph!" she tried to say something to the other girls, but was muffled by the piece of pretzel in her mouth.

Nero and Luna sighed simultaneously, flashing each other uncomfortable looks before the latter replied. "Penny, swallow before you speak."

"These are good!" Penelope declared after taking a long gulp. Her hands darted to her pockets, but came back with nothing but a piece of lint and a fly that promptly flew away. Her expression changed to sad and puppy-like.

"Oh no," Luna warned, fully aware of what she was trying. "You aren't getting lien out of me." a few seconds later, she sighed in resignation and dove into her pocket before coming up empty handed. She shot an annoyed glance at Nero that spoke for itself. "What?" the black haired girl asked innocently.

"You have to have some money on you." she told her. "Hand it over."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa."

"Nero Noctua, if you don't hand over some money right this minute, I'm telling the headmaster who stole his favorite pair of slippers."

Nero started sweating heavily and glancing away nervously. "I don't know what you're talking about." she insisted. After a few minutes of resistance, she finally reaching into her pockets, coming up with numerous miscellaneous objects, but no lien. At Luna's irritated glance, she replied. "Don't look at me."

Luna sighed. "Vulpes, do you have any - " she stopped mid-sentence when she realized that the fourth member of their team was nowhere in sight. "Uh, _Vulpes_?" she turned around and started searching for her while Penelope continued to eat her pretzels and Nero followed close behind. She called the other girl's name out again, this time more loudly. " _VULPES_!"

"And for the record," Nero said. "I didn't steal the headmaster's slippers. I realized someone could trip on them, and decided to move them somewhere safe."

Luna cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted. " _Vulpes_!" still no response. "Where the heck did she go?"

* * *

"First one to make it to the stadium gets a free milkshake!" Ruby shouted, as she sped past her team mates.

"Oh yeah?" Yang smiled and cracked her knuckles. "Prepare to pay 8 lien!" she followed after Ruby, while Weiss and Blake remained behind.

Her Semblance being speed, Ruby practically flew through the festival grounds, running past numerous stalls and people. Her movement created a gust of wind that knocked plates and people over in confusion. Looking back, Ruby quickly apologized, before jumping up and landing on one of the stall roofs, running across it and leaping to the next one, before repeating the process multiple times. "You're going to have to run faster if you want to catch me, sis!" she shouted to Yang, before leaping to the ground and running past a seemingly empty path.

Before she registered what happened, a girl walked seemingly out of nowhere, colliding into her. "Umph!" the two of them fell to the ground. When she got up, Ruby frantically helped the girl up to her feet by taking her arm and brushing the dirt off her cloak. _That's odd,_ she noted. _Wearing a cloak in the middle of summer._ but she swiftly dismissed the concern as none of her business. The lady must have come from a cold region and simply hadn't anticipated the change in temperature. She herself wore a red cloak, but this girl's was wide and pitch black, a conduit for heat. "I'm so sorry!" Ruby apologized frantically. "I should have watched where I was going."

The red haired girl, now back on her feet, but clutching her arm, replied calmly. "No, it's fine." she reassured her, although she was trembling. "I just lost my direction in the festival." Her frame was tall and slender, with a red bob cut that still had specks of dirt in it. Ruby kept dusting off the girl's cloak obsessively, until being interrupted.

"Ruby!" Yang ran up to the two of them, waving them down. "Who's this?" she asked.

"Oh, this is... I don't really know."

"My name is Vulpes." the red haired girl said, saluting the two of them with a mischievous smile. "Vulpes Foxtrot."

"We kind of... bumped into each other." Ruby blushed, before admitting. "Well, it was more me bumping into her." she murmured a few things about accidentally colliding into her, before changing the subject. "My name is Ruby, and this is my sister Yang." she gestured to the boisterous blonde haired girl who mashed her fists together to show off.

"Here to watch the fight?" Yang asked.

"I guess you could say that." Vulpes replied. "Although I'm also here to fight in it." she smiled, much to Ruby's consternation. Nothing about the girl suggested strength, she seemed the personification of frailty and weakness. Her face lit up and she excitingly proclaimed. "You're Team RWBY!" Ruby modestly shrugged, while Yang smiled at being recognized and answered "One in the same"

"Are you participating in the tournament?" she asked, promptly receiving a cheerful nod from Ruby, and had to resist smirking. _Almost too easy_. "I look forward to seeing you fight." at that, Ruby turned bright red. An awkward silence filled the air before...

"You still owe me a milkshake!" Yang told Ruby before running toward the colosseum.

"Ugh, no fair." Ruby groaned. "Guess I'll see you later, Vulpes." she said before running after Yang.

* * *

"There you are." Luna panted as she ran up to Vulpes while she watched Ruby and Yang race toward the stadium. "Who are they?

"Some contestants in the tournament." Vulpes replied nonchalantly, as Nero and Penelope reached them.

"Doing reconnaissance?" Penny asked with an excited expression on her face. The sun seemed to be dimming, and with it, much of the luster that seemed to animate the yellow haired girl. At the same time, with the sun going down along with the temperature, Luna's mood and aura appeared to be improving.

Vulpes turned around and smiled. "Always before a big fight, Pen." she stated and walked past the three of them.

* * *

 **((Arrivederci.))**


End file.
